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Churches I’d Visit if I Had a Free Weekend and an Unlimited Travel Budget

Oct
19

Churches I’d Visit if I Had a Free Weekend and an Unlimited Travel Budget

A friend of mine recently asked about churches that I’d recommend visiting. Just in case you’re curious, these are the top ten churches I’ve never visited that I’m most intrigued by right now. So, if I’m ever in these areas of the country, don’t be surprised if I pop in to see what’s happening. Here they are in alphabetical order:

Bay Area Fellowship (Corpus Christi, TX)
Central Christian Church (Las Vegas, NV)
Elevation Church (Charlotte, NC)
Gateway Church (Austin, TX)
Living Hope Church (Vancouver, WA)
Mariners Church (Irvine, CA)
NewSong Church
(Irvine, CA)
The People’s Church (Nashville, TN)
Quest Community Church (Lexington, KY)
The Rock Church (San Diego, CA)

What other churches would you recommend I visit?

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http://www.jasonhayesonline.com Jason Hayes

You definitely need to visit Long Hollow while in Nashville. (www.longhollow.com)
http://www.mikeutech.com/blog utech

Mosaic and Mars Hill (Seattle) are top on my list. Along with some of the ones on your list.
John Bishop

Tony, I would visit you and Perry. I think you guys are amazing, and I am quite jealous that you met Andy.

Maybe we will see you someday.

Peace

John Bishop
http://profile.typekey.com/cluth/ jackal

Here are my recommendations:

ChangePoint (http://www.changepointalaska.com) in Anchorage, Alaska. Yes, it’s my home church, but God is doing some incredible things at this big-church-for-a-small-state (only 3,000 people, but we’re probably influencing the culture around us more than even the biggest churches elsewhere in the country in some very creative ways, such as the new Sports Dome, which is supposedly the largest inflated structure on the continent). God’s given us a vision to break down the traditional walls between the culture at large and the church and to give everyone in the state a fair chance at the Gospel, and I can see that vision becoming reality. We’ve also written some curricula that I understand is being used by other churches in the country, such as Strategies for Life Coaching and Quest For A Joy-Filled Life.

Mariners Church reminds me a lot of ChangePoint. (Actually, one of our teaching/lead pastors has been working closely with Kenton Beshore there.) I definitely agree with your recommendation on that one!

OK, now on to the others:

Saddleback in Lake Forest, CA (actually, fairly normal as large churches go, but Rick Warren has affected modern Christianity so much that a visit is worth it–pair it up with a visit to Mariners)

Willow Creek near Chicago, IL (although it’s gone off the radar recently, it used to be the largest in the nation and was very innovative and trend-setting)

Lakewood in Houston, TX
(although I’m not sure about Joel Osteen–he reminds me a bit too much of the typical TV evangelist with the slicked-back hair and positive-thinking message, although someone I respect has worked with their leadership team and affirms that they’ve got the real deal going on–it’s one you can’t ignore)

New Life Church in Colorado Springs (though they are going through a difficult time, I know people familiar with the church who say it’s a great place. Their worship is top-notch, which is one of the reasons I’d like to go)

Hillsong, Sydney, Australia (they’re actually an Assembly of God church, though pastor Brian Houston has been accused of promoting a watered-down gospel with some of the whole positive-thinking theology thrown in. The accusations may not be true, though–I haven’t reasearched them enough to know. Besides, their worship is more than top-notch)

*Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, MN (one of the most influential modern Christian thinkers)

I have a list of several in the L.A. area I was curious about and plan on researching or checking out when I spend more time there (it’s my childhood home, so I usually end up there often), but I don’t know enough about them to suggest you add them to your list. Here’s the list, so if anyone knows anything about them, feel free to comment:

*Harvest Christian Fellowship (www.harvest.org/church)
*Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa
*Capo Beach Calvary
*Church on the Way (Jack Hayford)
*Crenshaw Christian Center/Ever Increasing Faith Ministry
*Grace Community Church (John MacArthur)
*The Church at Rocky Peak
Rick

I’d recommend you keep The Chapel on your radar. It’s a church up in Chicagoland that just went from one campus to five.
http://www.beckycallender.blogspot.com Becky C.

I’m sure my sister would let you & Em stay with her if you decide to visit Irvine. I’ll even make her promise not to hug you…
http://www.c3church.org Benjamin Canady

C3 Church in Clayton, NC. We’re a couple of weeks from opening a new 2000 seat worship center….in the middle of an old tobacco field!

Check it out at http://www.c3church.org
http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com Los

What’s wierd is that I have been to 5 of those. And I have been working full time on Sundays for 9 years
http://profile.typekey.com/faithntim/ Tim Stevens

You must be getting close to 40…that’s when the memory starts going (I think that’s what they said). Anyway, you and I visited Central Christian a few years ago.
http://www.johnfones.com/story John Fones

Well darn, I’ve been working on Sunday’s too and I haven’t been to one of them :(
http://www.alm.org.uk/church/belfast/ Walter Lockhart

Visit: Abundant Life Church Belfast (http://www.alm.org.uk/belfast/) or Bradford (http://www.alm.org.uk/).
http://www.taketwoministries.com Todd McKeever

Tony, can you say why those churches are the ones you are most intrigued by right now?
http://www.calvarychapelcheyenne.org Shaun Sells

It saddens me to see that big fancy churches make the list. Where are the little churches in small towns that can teach us what fellowship is? Where are the new church plants that have men filled with passion and direction leading a small group of people along the road of discipleship? Where is the house church in China that could teach us so much about faith.

This reads more like a site seeing tour of celebrity households. Sadly most of them are following a consumer driven model of church that Willowcreek is now repenting of. It lead to numerical growth, but no depth of faith. Sad.
http://www.blairfarley.com blair farley

Tony,
We would love to have you visit Mariners! We have a Leadership Conference http://www.marinerschurch.org/thelab/index.html next March. Maybe you could join us!

//blair
http://tonymorganlive.com tony morgan

Tim, I guess it’s good to know that the memory is the first thing to go. But, if you’ll recall, we didn’t actually experience a service at Central, and I’d still like to do that.

Shaun, rather that pointing out how “sad” I am, why don’t you recommend some churches I should visit? That’s precisely why I asked for feedback. I was looking for suggestions.

But, since you opened the door, I’m interested in visiting the churches I listed because they’ve demonstrated success in evangelism in their communities. Each church is seeing hundreds of people commit their lives to Christ.

And, in my opinion, I believe salvations are the best measure we have of a healthy, vibrant church. There are lots of dead and dying churches in the country that are focused solely on fellowship and discipleship. I’d rather commit my ministry life to helping as many people as possible receive Christ. If that happens, there will be more people engaging in fellowship and discipleship. I rarely, if ever, see it happen in reverse.

There. That should create some fuel for bloggers across the country. Aren’t you glad you read the comments? :-)

tony
http://www.thepewview.com Milan Ford

Hey Tony -

Love the list!

Not to sure if they’ve started building it yet…but keep your travel plans open for Cornerstone (Simi Valley, CA).

Francis Chan and the Cornerstone team are up to something pretty different over there…

They’re going all out…literally!
(http://www.cornerstonesimi.com)

Maybe you can take Shaun with you!
(hey shaun…relax bro…its all in love!)

- Milan (“40″)
http://spiritualflux.wordpress.com Jeremy

The Village Church in Highland Village, TX. Matt Chandler is the man!
BV

The Village Church (Highland Village, TX)
http://www.covenant-community.org/hallowest.htm Tina Harkey

I think I’d have to check this place out…what are they doing right?

Huge Launch
Central Christian Church of the East Valley had a huge launch of their first off-site campus with almost 70% more people than they had anticipated. The percentage jump sounds daunting enough but when you consider they were anticipating 9000, it’s even more amazing – 15,000 people showed up for their grand opening.
http://FIXMAS.org Jesse James

I would visit Chris Seay’s Church: Ecclesia (top of my list), And Mark Driscoll, Gateway, Francis Chan, Erwin and that weird church of Jay Baker.
Vaughn

CrossPoint Church (www.crosspointchurch.info) in Birmingham, AL is 2 yrs old and has about 1800 come each weekend and growing. Lead Pastor Ryan Whitley (www.justonemore.info) is amazing and has a pure passion for evangelism. Whats even more amazing is the student ministry (www.sublimestudents.com) is averaging 600 each Wednesday night and growing!! We had only 115 students in August! We’ve seen well over 100 salvations since the beginning of the fall semester and had 42 baptisms towards the end of September.
http://theblogstar.com Chad Jarnagin

Come on….. over.

I’ve been to 4 of those. good list. :)

C
http://www.lighttheworldministry.org Dwayne Sudduth

I, for one, would love for you to visit Hanover First Church of God in Hanover, PA. Our pastor staff is committed to Evangelism–so committed, in fact, that we have an actual evangelism team that calls HFCOG home.

Besides–we have Snyders for pretzels and UTZ for chips here..not to mention that we’re only an hour and half from Wilbur Chocolate (sigh..and that *other* chocolate company, Hershey) where you can get Wilbur Buds..

For coffee—I’ll take you to get REAL coffee, not that fake stuff from Starbucks..
http://www.calvarychapelcheyenne.org Shaun Sells

Tony -

I just reread my comment, it was a wee bit cynical. My apologies – I must have been having a bad blog day!

I would like to disagree with you on one minor point though. You said that you rarely see fellowship and discipleship lead to salvation – I disagree. I believe both are the foundation that leads to evangelism. I don’t have any stats to back it, just some verses:

Acts 2:42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 2:43 ¶ Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
Acts 2:44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;
Acts 2:45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
Acts 2:46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
Acts 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

No mention of evangelism there, and yet the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Don’t get me wrong, evangelism is good, and you have the right to be thrilled by any churches you want.

I can honestly say my my struggle with large churches is because I pastor a growing one (although 800+ on Sunday may seem tiny to some), and so far it is a difficult transition. We grew without having one evangelistic campaign, no billboards or outreaches – just growing Christian disciples bringing there friends.

May God richly bless you and all who blog here!
http://www.stevengibbs.org Steven Gibbs

Crossroads Community, Cincinatti
http://www.crossroadscommunity.net/Index.asp
http://www.lighttheworldministry.org Dwayne Sudduth

Shaun,

I believe your “growing Christian disciples bringing their friends” is a form of evangelism. As they grow more Christ-Like, their friends begin to see those changes, and want to know more. Consequently, they often attend with their friends and they, too, undergo the spiritual transformation if they become willing to accept Christ. While you may not have actively advertised and recruited; those friends of your congregation members found something they were missing.

Your verses from Acts show that the Apostles were showing their Christ-Like attitudes to the multitudes, (actions that are sadly lacking among many of our brothers and sisters in Christ) which is what brought those unsaved to hear the truth of salvation, and led them to believe and be saved.
http://www.barefootchurch.com Chris Gastardi

If you ever want to take a trip to Myrtle Beach, you definitely should come see us at Barefoot Community Church, we’re actually located in North Myrtle Beach.
http://www.revitalizeyourchurch.blogspot.com mark o wilson

I think you ought to come up to the Wisconsin northwoods and visit Hayward Wesleyan Church — you can hit it in your northern loop, after you visit Shawn’s church in Wyoming! It might seem like the end of the earth — but really, it’s the center of universe — and God is alive and well! We’re trying to knock the “sin” out of Wisconsin — so it will just be called Wiscon!
http://www.4cornerschurch.com Ryan Hartsock

It’s been awhile since I’ve read your blog but since you asked…I’ll recommend:

Four Corners Church (West Chester OH)

We have partnered up and share a campus with an African-American church and are influencing our community. Thanks for starting the conversation…great to check out some new churches.
http://calvaryonline.org Kelly Gubser

I am kinda partial to our church: Calvary Church in Muscatine, Iowa. We are a small town of about 35,000 but have around 1000 in attendance every week. Our major strength is the music, but we have a lot of great stuff going on. Please come visit and have a chat!